Rooster Recap: ‘House of Cards’–Season 2, Episode 4

Those of you who read my post last week know that I had a little poll at the end of my article. For review (in case you didn’t participate and/or read my post) it was “Who is our new impact character for the rest of the season?” Well the results are in… and after a million of you voted, it has come down to a DRAW! 50% of you voted that Claire Underwood is our newest impact character. And the remaining 50% voted my main squeeze, Cashew–the super awesome hacker guinea pig, as the new impact character. Well, to be honest… EVERYONE IS RIGHT! But as for this episode and post, Claire Underwood is the name you will be hearing the most. Let’s dive into it shall we?

If you haven’t seen the episode, I suggest waiting to read this post. Spoilers ahead.

Ahh… Claire Underwood. Strong, self motivated, ambitious and just a stunning specimen. indeed. And married to the 2nd most powerful man the in the country. What has she got to lose? You would think nothing… but obviously it’s nothing CNN won’t dig up and find out! This episode, Frank and Claire are supposed to do a live interview on CNN together as a couple. But after a anthrax scare hits the capitol, leaving Frank contained in his office, Claire must do the interview by herself. Scary… I know. But let’s quickly go over what’s going on at the capitol.

A secretary opened a small manila envelope in the lobby and it ended up being tons of white powder that went all over her clothes. Of course, this now meant that everyone needed to be quarantined until the hazard scientists could determine whether or not it is actually anthrax. This meant that Frank and his good ole’ buddy Donald Blithe are locked in a room together. Donald’s wife suffers from a horrible case of Alzheimer’s. So when he tried to call her, she had no idea who he was and was freaking out about being alone in her house. Frank and Donald were in the midst of discussion about the benefits bill that he desperately needed votes from Donald’s regime. Frank then talked about how he could throw on a little incentive…such as Alzheimer’s research funding onto the bill in exchange for Donald’s loyalty. This in turn made Donald more than upset…to see Frank use a personal matter such as this to get what he wants. So within the first hour of quarantine, Blithe is more than furious with Frank. Good job Frank, Good Job.

Meanwhile, back at the Underwood Residence, the interview is ready to air. Claire sits down with CNN Reporter Ashleigh Banfield (who actually is a CNN Reporter). The beginning of the interview was cake. Talking about her life in Texas, her parents, where she and Frank met. Then it started to spiral when questions such as “Did Frank marry you for the money your family had?” or “What’s it really like being a politician’s wife?” were starting to be asked. But, Claire, with ice in her veins and power in her conviction answers them beautifully. Giving enough of an answer, but leaving space to roam.

But then, shit gets reeeaaalllllllll heavy. Banfield asks about why the couple hasn’t had any children. Claire, of course, gave the scripted response that she always had. Basically that her and Frank don’t feel they can fully serve the country to the best of their ability, as well as take care of their own kin. Sounds like a good answer to me. WRONG. Banfield rebuttals with questions such as “Do you just not have any maternal instinct? Is it because you can’t have kids?” or “Here’s an article where an opponent claimed you were pregnant during the campaign. Have you ever been pregnant?”. Yikes…yikes indeed America. Claire finally snaps… and says “yes”. Banfield then responds with “Was it a miscarriage?” and “Did you terminate the pregnancy?” After a long pause, Claire rebuttals with what stole the award for line of the episode for me…”If I said yes, my husband’s career would be in jeopardy. My faith would be questioned, my life would be threatened. But I won’t feel ashamed. Yes, I was pregnant and yes, I had an abortion.” BOOM. BOOM indeed America! Claire then asks for a quick break. She meets with her PR representative Connor…who at this point wants to set himself on fire and jump out the nearest 12 story building. Claire then admits to him that she has had 3 abortions. 2 while she was a teenager (before Frank) and one during Frank’s campaign for fear of affecting it.

Claire then goes back on camera and admits that she did have an abortion, but it was because she was raped in college by a man named Dalton McGinnis. And as a matter of fact, she was forced to face him a few weeks ago when he got a medal for his service in the Marines. Yeah… that dude. That dude, America. Just like that, the mood and interview shifts completely. So much that a young woman calls in to share her story of her sexual assault experience with the same man! This takes up the rest of the interview, which is a weird comfort because it takes the attention off of Frank and Claire.

Frank then returns home from the quarantine (it wasn’t anthrax by the way) to watch the rest of the of the interview. The look on his face when he’s watching is a photo moment for sure. But the word proud is the best way to explain it. After her telling her story and admitting abortion, then LYING about it by pinning it on someone else. Ah, the true Underwood way. Truth, then bullshit to get what you want. What a strange, strange couple.

Besides that, Lucas sits down with the hacker again to see if he can get ahold of Zoe’s phone records. The hacker explains to him that the only way is for him to break into where the servers are and plug in a USB chip so that they can access it. This, which works, is not the only way. I mean c’mon….the dude’s a hacker. He can find another way. But hey, maybe he has something up his sleeve? Till next time…I’ll leave you with another poll!